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Quick links: Foreign
Affairs
Humor & Essay
Investigative & Consumer
Iraq
Media
Political & Social Issues
Features & Profiles
Sept. 11 and Aftermath
|
Foreign Affairs |
February
26, 2006 - Sunday
Herald
All Sides Turn On Bush Over Ports Deal
The ports controversy is an especially difficult
one for the Bush Administration and the GOP. If
the details get scrutiny, the deal could have
ramifications all the way to the next
presidential election.
|
January
04, 2006 -
TomPaine.com
To Russia, Love Tom Delay
Jack Abramoff's plea is just the beginning.
DeLay's dealings with Russia should be one of
the biggest stories of the year.
|
June 29,
2005 -
Los Angeles Times
Harsh Insight Into How We Make War
A
review of Norman Solomon’s timely new book, “War
Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning
Us to Death”
|
March
31, 2005 - The Nation
Miller's UN Reporting
After
her role in hyping unfounded claims that Saddam had
weapons of mass destruction and Al Qaeda ties – claims
that greatly buttressed the White House’s arguments for
war, Judith Miller of the New York Times faced
unparalleled criticism. So what happened to her? She got
back to work advancing that same unilateralist line.
This time, she started going after the leadership of the
United Nations – the same folks whose sanctions and
inspection program ensured that Saddam did not develop
WMDs. For the past year, she
has been cranking out biased reports about alleged
wrongdoing at the UN in such an exaggerated way as to
cast the organization and its leadership as almost
beyond redemption. An examination of
her recent record.
|
January 14,
2005 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What’s wrong with the coverage of the CBS scandal?
Why are Dan Rather's
failings more important than George Bush's? Russ
questions the media's priorities in their eagerness to
criticize 60 Minutes' story on Bush's National Guard
service.
|
October 27,
2004 - Guerrilla News Network
Bush
Wanted To Invade Iraq
George
Bush had a hankering for war with Iraq well before he
was elected. He fibbed about his military service.
And more revelations from
his former biographer.
|
April 25,
2004 - Washington Post
Olympian
Athens, Stuck Between Alpha and Omega
Russ, puttering around Athens, finds
the city contending with some unusual challenges as it prepares
to host the Olympic Games.
|
April 06,
2004 - Tompaine.com
Born-Again
Hawks
It's one thing to intensely dislike
George W. Bush. It's another thing entirely to want to defeat
him so bad, you are willing to adopt his own bring-'em-on
worldview. But that is exactly the position in which many
progressives and the "liberal media" find themselves.
|
March 22,
2004 - The Observer (UK)
Violence in the Balkans
Russ covers unrest in Serbia
following ethnic violence in neighboring Kosovo.
|
March 22,
2004 - TomPaine.com
The Pain In Spain
Russ suggests we stop blaming the
Spaniards. They’re just quicker at figuring out something even
Americans will, eventually: We have all been had.
|
March 17,
2004 - Newsday
Bush's
War Exercise: The Backpedal
Anniversaries are a time of
remembrance. We look back at an event and recall what was. Or,
in the case of the invasion of Iraq, which began one year ago,
we look back at what wasn't.
|
February 20,
2004 - TomPaine.com
Bush's
Backpedaling
The Bush administration, faced with
a stinker of an economic situation, plans to run for re-election
on a national defense-foreign policy plank. But how's it going
to do that? Can anyone seriously trust any significant claim
from this gang that definitely can't shoot straight—then insists
that the goal was always to hit the wall not the target? Russ
looks at all the foreign policy goals that had to be altered.
|
Jan/Feb,
2004 - The Washington Monthly
Where's Radovan?
Why can’t – or
won’t – the West catch Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian war
criminal connected with up to 200,000 deaths? He’s been on the
run now for eight years. Russ investigates.
Versions of this article have appeared in The New Statesman
(UK), NRC Handelsblad (Netherlands), Die Welt (Germany),
Ha’aretz (Israel), Helsingin Sanomat (Finland), Morgenbladet
(Norway), O Publico (Portugal), The Age, The Sydney Morning
Herald (Australia), Humo (Belgium), Sunday Herald (Scotland),
Die Presse (Austria), Straits Times (Singapore), South China
Morning Post (Hong Kong), Information (Denmark), Facts
(Switzerland), Korea Herald (South Korea) and El
Mundo (Spain).
|
January
30, 2004 - TomPaine.com
The Definition of Imminent
Team Bush is in
training for the upcoming political Olympics. In recent days,
we've seen vigorous demonstrations of hedging, ducking and
furious backpedaling. Plus that most esoteric of sports: hair
splitting. At issue, of course, is the Bush administration's
attempt to escape responsibility for starting a war over
something that did not exist. Take its parsing of the word
'imminent'.... |
January
29, 2004 - TomPaine.com
Why We Like the UN Again
The White House
wanted the UN to stay out of all important decisions and roles
in Iraq. But suddenly, it can't welcome the UN into that country
fast enough. What gives? Well, there's a mess in Iraq and an
election coming up back here. Russ explains. |
|
January
07, 2004 - Los Angeles Times
(This
article also appeared in Newsday and the Philadelphia Inquirer.)
Put
Spotlight on Bin Laden
Russ argues that the US media does everyone a disservice by
censoring, minimizing and failing to analyze periodic statements
attributed to Osama bin Laden. |
|
October 08, 2003
Serbia's
Secretive Power Broker
A look at the shadowy "spin doctor" waging war on Serbia's
media and, say some, obstructing the evolution of a vibrant
democracy. |
|
September 25, 2003 -
TomPaine.com
The Unilateral Party's Over
Voters traditionally consider Democrats less capable than
Republicans on foreign policy. But is that true? To test
that notion, compare Bush's go-it-alone war on Iraq and
Clinton's multilateralism in the Balkans. |
|
September 19, 2003 -
The Christian Science Monitor
Can Foreigners Fix Bosnia?
Building a pluralistic democracy from scratch is a daunting
proposition. Lessons learned here may apply to Iraq and
elsewhere. |
|
September 08, 2003 -
The Christian Science Monitor
Grisly Clues in Bosnia’s Largest Mass Grave
This site and others demonstrate a coordinated reburial effort
that could not have gone on without high-level approval. |
|
June 25, 2003 -
Christian Science Monitor
Sweet Deal for Balkans Leaves Bad Taste for EU
When the EU
granted trade preferences to Western Balkans countries, it
meant to help poor countries develop. But as a sugar scandal
shows, it’s not easy to overcome a deep-rooted legacy of
corruption in the region. |
|
April 04, 2003 -
The
American Prospect
Stunning
Events in Former Yugoslavia While Iraq Monopolizes The News
(Versions of this article appeared in The Age (Australia)
and Information (Denmark) )
Russ reports on the
fast-shifting investigation into the murder of
prime minister
Djindjic and the fight to rid
Serbia of Milosevic-era organized crime and state-sponsored
thuggery. |
|
March 17, 2003 -
The Sunday Times
(UK)
Butcher of Bosnia
Link To Assassin
(A
version of this article also appeared in The Australian)
More details of
Serbian Prime Minister assassination revealed. |
|
March 13, 2003 -
Toronto Star (Canada)
Serbian Prime Minister Assassinated
(Versions of this article appeared in La Repubblica (Italy),
El Pais (Spain), Information (Denmark), and The Washington
Times.)
Russ
reports in from Belgrade as the situation unfolds. |
|
Sunday Herald (Scotland) - November 14,
2002
Yugoslavian officials 'sold chemical weapons to Iraq'
(Versions of this article also appeared in The New York
Daily News, Information (Denmark) and Danas (Yugoslavia) )
Russ obtains and
analyzes an advance copy of a scorching report on the extent
of Yugoslav arms sales and military assistance to Iraq. |
|
November 14, 2002 -
TomPaine.com
Belgrade: Iraq Through A Balkan Lens
(A version of this article also appeared in La Stampa
(Italy)
and Information
(Denmark). )
Past U.S. Efforts Shed
Doubt On Post-War Rebuilding Of Iraq, writes Russ from
former Yugoslavia. "If this place is indicative of the U.S.
commitment after the bombs stop falling, the future Iraq
won't be a pretty picture." |
|
October 13, 2002 -
European Press Network
Serbian Presidential
Election Coverage
Russ covers Serbia's first
post-Milosevic presidential election, but he's more
interested than most of the voters. |
|
October, 2002 -
Razor Magazine
The Land Mine Guy
"If anyone ever finds a way to detect and dig up the 100
million land mines that litter the earth, it’s likely to be
Richard Walden. Russ profiles the irreverent humanitarian
relief maestro, founder of the unconventional relief
organization Operation USA, who has devoted his life to
bringing attention and resources to appalling scenarios of
human misery."
|
February,
2002 -
This article appeared in
Frankfurter Allgemeine (Germany), Toronto Star (Canada), De
Standaard (Belgium) and The Age (Australia) - Feb 2002)
Hawks and doves
circle Washington
Beyond the war
against al Qaeda, there's another anti-terror struggle being
waged within the U.S. foreign policy establishment itself. The
point of contention: To attack Iraq or not. The combatants fall
into two camps: the Saddam Hawks and the Saddam Doves. On the
outcome of their struggle may hang the prospects for peace or
war in the first decade of the 21st century. |
|
Feb 07,
1994 -
The Nation
The Deforesting of Irian Jaya
Carrying its
odd trio through a valley deep in Irian Jaya, the van made
excellent time. The driver, a young hipster from far-off Java in
jeans and reflecting sunglasses, cranked up a scratchy tape of
Indonesian rock and drummed away on the dashboard. The wiry old
man next to me, toothless and sporting nothing save his tribe's
traditional penis gourd, grinned sweetly as we made dust fly.
But his cheeriness could only momentarily transcend a sobering
reality: that his culture, which dates back 10,000 years, may be
wiped out in ten.
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Go Back Up |
|
Humor & Essay |
March 28,
2005 - AlterNet
Fishing for New Environmentalists
With the Bush administration’s
promulgation of stunningly weak standards on mercury
pollution, and with growing evidence of the mass poisoning
of the American people, there’s a prime opportunity.
Environmentalists should do more to reach out to the
millions of Americans who hunt and fish. Assuming that
generally conservative “outdoorsmen” and –women will vote
only based on guns and permits is very short-sighted,
strategically.
|
|
November 26, 2003 -
New York Observer
You've Got Hate Mail!
Virtual Pundits (Mis)Fire Back
Is Russ really like Jerry
Springer? One reader thinks so. Check out some of the
audience feedback. |
|
September 04, 2003 -
TomPaine.com
Bush Moves On
Thanks to President Bush,
we no longer have to wait for others to let us off the hook.
Now we can simply move ourselves on. |
|
June 16, 2003 - The New York Observer
Invasion of the Job Snatchers
When Russ posts an ad for a
research assistant, the response is baffling. |
|
May 13, 2003 -
Nedeljni
Telegraf (Weekly Telegraph), Belgrade
Case Solved
Russ assesses
customer service standards in Belgrade. |
|
May 06, 2003 -
Nedeljni
Telegraf (Weekly Telegraph), Belgrade
Are You a
Spy, Russ Baker?
In the first installment of
his new weekly column, Russ addresses local suspicions that
he isn’t what he says he is. |
May 06, 2002 - New York Times
I'm The Other Guy
Russ reveals the
identity crisis that has dogged him throughout his
career. |
Mar, 2002 - Philadelphia Inquirer
Martha
Stewart Seizes Fawlty Towers
Russ visits
what may be America’s best Bed & Breakfast Inn and meets
its zealous proprietor. |
November, 2001 - Arena
Magazine
The Smoking Gun: They Spy on the FBI
It’s not easy
being a cop. I know this because I read a police report
describing how officers in Manchester, NH, on routine
bicycle patrol, encountered a man wearing “what appeared
to be a costume made to resemble a penis.” |
|
June 01, 2000 - New York
Times
The Procrastinator's Guide to Summer Rentals
Russ cruises the
greater New York area for bargains in last-minute summer
rentals, with some unexpected and humorous results. |
|
May 29, 2000 - New York
Observer
Amadou Lives At Marie Runyon's Dinner Table
85-year old Marie
Runyon, a white Southern lady living in Harlem for the
last half-century, where she has been a pioneer in civil
rights and housing matters, has a chance encounter that
leads to a remarkable dinner with the mother of Amadou
Diallo, shot by police 41 times in a tragic accident. |
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Go Back Up |
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Investigative &
Consumer |
|
January, 2003 -
Razor Magazine
An
Embarrassment of Riches: the Inside Story of the World's
Biggest Con
(Versions
of this article also appeared in The Good Weekend (magazine
of the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age), Politiken
(Denmark), South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) and Die
Tageszeitung (Germany). )
It’s the world’s biggest –
and perhaps most elaborate -- scam, and it’s growing
rapidly. Maybe you didn’t bite when those e-mails or calls
came in, but plenty of people did. Read one such story… |
|
March 2001 -
Esquire (Netherlands)
More than the usual Hollywood fodder
This article
appeared in the magazines Esquire (Netherlands edition) and
Focus Knack (Belgium), and in the magazine supplements of La
Repubblica (Italy) and Die Tages-Anzeiger (Switzerland).
When
the marriage of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman busted up, longtime
Scientology-watchers suspected there was more there than just
the usual gossip column histrionics. Russ takes a look. |
|
September 19, 1999 -
New York Daily News
Credit Quicksand Traps Consumers
Deceptive
tactics employed by banks that issue credit cards mean
astoundingly high interest rates and mammoth fees. Find out how
not to be a victim.
|
|
1999 -
Vote.com
Card Sharks: Low-Interest Credit Offers Can Bite Back
A growing
number of consumers are being financially squeezed by what many
contend to be the blatantly unfair and misleading practices of
the $1.2 trillion credit card industry. |
|
February 14, 1999 - The
Observer (UK)
MK-ULTRA: The CIA and LSD
This Also Appeared in Der Spiegel (Germany), and The Good Weekend
((The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald)
In 1952,
Stanley Glickman was a promising young painter studying in
Paris. Then one night he shared a drink with some fellow
Americans, and his life fell apart. Did the CIA spike his
drink with LSD? |
|
December 5, 1999 - New York Daily News
The Cell Phone Mess
Cellular phone companies seem more interested in signing up
customers than in making sure their service works.
Russ explores the problem areas.
|
|
December 1998
- Salon.com
Portrait of a political pit bull
Rep. Dan Burton
(R-Ind), the powerful chairman of the House Government
Reform Committee, made a name for himself by investigating
alleged improprieties in the Clinton White House. He famously
called Clinton a "scumbag" for his personal behavior and has
relentlessly pursued White House campaign finance
irregularities, but as this in-depth investigation shows, Burton
has his own complicated history. |
|
April, 1997 -
P.O.V.
A Royal Pain
A
Spanish prince, a blonde bombshell and a few surreptitious
pictures. For a 23-year-old photographer named Hugo
Arriazu, the scoop of a lifetime led to a jailhouse nightmare. |
|
April 1997
-
George Magazine
The War Between Scientology and Germany
The German
Government says the Church of Scientology is a tyrannical cult that
recalls the country's dark history. The Scientologists say
it's the Germans who haven't changed. In an increasingly
bitter battle, two powers collide over the meaning of freedom and
the burden of the past.
|
December, 1997
-
Men's Health
Zinc for Yourself
Miracle
treatment... or hype? Here's the truth about zinc and
colds. |
|
December 07, 1993 - The
Village Voice
The Rogue Police Union
Patrolman Phil
Caruso and lawyer Richard Hartman built the Patrolmen’s
Benevolent Association into an arrogant, insular, and
wealthy institution that stands above the law and beyond
scrutiny. Where is the $63 million a year in tax funds
and union dues going? Only their friends know for
sure. |
1991 - Village Voice
Putting the Cult Back In
Culture
A
mysterious new Hollywood studio turns out to be a
front for the controversial cult, Scientology. |
March 20, 1990 - Village Voice
Breaking The Faith: - A Close Look at Covenant House
The sexual abuse was
one part of a bigger story. Russ looks at the
broader failures at this famous home for runaways.
|
|
Go Back Up |
|
Media |
April 08,
2006 - TomPaine.com
The
Media's Chance at Redemption
When, oh when,
will the U.S. “mainstream media” finally stop
hemming and hawing, parsing and understating?
When will they simply go for the jugular to
confirm what any thoughtful American has already
learned from “less reputable” but increasingly
relevant alternative information sources: that
from the beginning of the Bush administration,
invading Iraq has always been as much an article
of faith for the president as, well, promoting
faith over reason?
|
February
21, 2006 -
TomPaine.com
The Media's Next Quarry
Now that the press has come alive over the
hunting accident, will it investigate the bigger
scandals where Cheney plays a central role?
|
January
11, 2006 -
Columbia Journalism Review
Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution
Times have certainly changed when bloggers
who rail about mainstream journalism can
rent part of the Rainbow Room, atop
Manhattan's GE building -- a temple of the
media establishment -- to announce the
latest iteration of the revolution.
|
November 14,
2005 -
TomPaine.com
It's Not Just Judy
The
notorious Times
reporter is only a symptom of the disease affecting
political journalism.
|
October,
2005 -
Columbia Journalism Review
Anonymous Sources: the Q&A
In
a Q&A, Steve Engelberg, once Judith Miller’s editor,
gives some surprising answers about when to use –
and when not to use – anonymous sources.
|
September 6,
2005 -
TomPaine.com
The Media's Labor Day Revolution
Watch them cry and shout! With the colossal
screw-ups over Hurricane Katrina, even Fox News
Channel reporters were furious at the
administration. Read the amazing story of the
media’s late wake-up call on the Bush
Administration’s priorities and competencies. Also,
follow the links to watch STUNNING footage of
reporters gone wild!
|
July 21,
2005 -
TomPaine.com
Why Was Miller Fit to Print
Appropriate
compassion for jailed New York Times reporter Judith
Miller notwithstanding, the editors of the Times
have failed to clarify the exact role of their
controversial colleague in the so-called Valerie
Plame Leak, aware as they are of Miller's checkered
professional record and her seeming disdain for
standards the rest of the profession strives to
uphold. While defending its own, the paper also has
a larger responsibility—both to its readers and to
journalism—not to serve as a propaganda organ,
obscuring key unresolved questions about Miller, her
work and this particular case.
|
June 29,
2005 -
Los Angeles Times
Harsh Insight Into How We Make War
A
review of Norman Solomon’s timely new book, “War
Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning
Us to Death”
|
June 24,
2005 -
Alternet
The Sins of Judith Miller
The New
York Times’ Inspector Clouseau-like Judith Miller
continues on her crusade to prejudge and taint the UN
leadership and the promise of multilateralism – making
mistakes as fast as her editors can clean them up. Why,
oh why, is this woman still working there?
|
June
13, 2005 -
TomPaine.com
Tomorrow's Woodwards And Bernsteins
Well,
wasn’t that some excitement over the unmasking of Deep
Throat? Besides resolving a long-standing mystery, the
revelation came at an especially auspicious moment.
Investigative journalism desperately needs a boost right
about now. Here’s why – and how.
|
May
20 2005 - TomPaine.com
Winning The Media Wars
Were you inspired by Bill Moyers' recent speech about
media reform? Here's your users' guide to making it
happen.
|
March
31, 2005 - The Nation
Miller's UN Reporting
After
her role in hyping unfounded claims that Saddam had
weapons of mass destruction and Al Qaeda ties – claims
that greatly buttressed the White House’s arguments for
war, Judith Miller of the New York Times faced
unparalleled criticism. So what happened to her? She got
back to work advancing that same unilateralist line.
This time, she started going after the leadership of the
United Nations – the same folks whose sanctions and
inspection program ensured that Saddam did not develop
WMDs. For the past year, she
has been cranking out biased reports about alleged
wrongdoing at the UN in such an exaggerated way as to
cast the organization and its leadership as almost
beyond redemption. An examination of
her recent record.
|
March 14,
2005 - NiemanWatchdog.org (Nieman Foundation for
Journalism at Harvard University)
More Questions on the 'Secret' Bush Tapes
Faced with difficulties of
maintaining White House access in a time of unsurpassed
administration spin and hostility to the media, did New
York Times editors lower their guard in the way they
handled a front-page article about suspect 'secret
tapes' of conversations between George W. Bush and "a
friend?" If the tapes were really worthy of front-page
treatment, why didn't the paper do better analysis and
work up a hard lede instead of presenting the
'revelations' in a kind of soft-focus way that revealed
little?
|
January 14,
2005 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What’s wrong with the coverage of the CBS scandal?
Why are Dan Rather's
failings more important than George Bush's? Russ
questions the media's priorities in their eagerness to
criticize 60 Minutes' story on Bush's National Guard
service.
|
April 22,
2004 - TomPaine.com
Maturing
Media?
Has this immature president
spawned a sudden maturation of his inquisitors? Recent
evidence indicates just that. And we can only hope that
this growth spurt continues.
|
February 13,
2004 - TomPaine.com
Strangling Public Debate
Why those controversial
issue ads must be allowed to run.
|
January 07, 2004
- Los
Angeles Times
Put Spotlight on Bin Laden
Russ argues that the US media does everyone a disservice by
censoring, minimizing and failing to analyze periodic statements
attributed to Osama bin Laden.
|
June 05, 2003 - The Nation
(A
version of this article also appeared in the Sydney Morning
Herald.)
'Scoops'
and Truth at The Times
There’s turmoil at The New York Times, but Russ finds that
the problems go deeper than
Jayson Blair or Howell Raines. He focuses on the
role of the paper, and one star reporter in particular, in
promoting the now-discredited Bush Administration line that Iraq
possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, the key justification for
the invasion. |
|
May 13, 2003 -
TomPaine.com
News Without a Compass
What
happens when ambition and scoop-lust blinds top media? Russ
looks at Judith Miller’s bizarre Iraqi chemical weapon
exclusive. |
|
March 20, 2003 -
The
Nation
The Big Lie
A look at how Newsweek buried a
hugely important story casting doubt on the reasons behind
the invasion of Iraq.
 |
|
January 13, 2003 -
TomPaine.com
'Lovely
Outrage'
(A version of this
article also appeared in Information (Denmark) )
Blunt Words About
the Soft Press
Serbian journalists think American media outlets are too
provincial, nihilistic and timid. |
|
June 23, 2002
-
Los Angeles Times
The
Contrarians
Why outrage,
irreverence and a sense of fun is good for journalism. |
|
May/June, 2002
-
Columbia Journalism Review
Want To
Be A Patriot? Do Your Job
Russ examines
rush among journalists in the aftermath of September 11 to
prove, first and foremost, their patriotic credentials. And
he explains why this is not the appropriate role of the
media.
|
|
June, 2002 -
Razor Magazine
Tina Brown
Talks No More
Russ reconstructs the wild ride
that was Talk Magazine, and recounts the zany antics of its
buzz-obsessed leader, Tina Brown. |
|
Mar/April, 2002 -
Columbia Journalism Review
The Skeptical Environmentalist
Russ
examines how journalists get taken in by contrarian books
and sexy if deeply flawed theses. A case study: The
Skeptical Environmentalist, the best-seller with the rosy
prognosis on the state of the earth's ecosystems.
|
|
Mar/April, 2002 -
Columbia Journalism Review
The
Last Word On Talk
Russ finds himself stranded in – gasp!—Paris while on
assignment for Talk Magazine at the precise moment its
owners decide to fold the publication. Here, Russ ruminates
on the magazine’s short, fabulous life. |
|
Jan/Feb, 2002 -
Columbia Journalism Review
The Freedom Forum Narrows Its Vision
Freedom Forum’s Financial Follies: Russ looks at how
journalism’s largest foundation lost hundreds of millions in
investments, but continues to plan an opulent new journalism
museum – and to pay officers huge salaries. |
|
Sept/Oct, 2001
-
Columbia
Journalism Review
A Happy Newsroom
Why People Like Working for the St. Petersburg Times. |
|
Mar/April, 2001 -
Columbia
Journalism Review
Hanging Chads
Our man
at the great Florida recount. |
|
January, 2001 -
Columbia Journalism Review
The Script
The 2000
presidential campaign was remarkably scripted, and the
debate severely constricted. Does that mean the media can't
broaden the discussion, can't compel candidates to talk
about what really matters most? Russ says we can -- and
must.
|
|
Nov/Dec, 2000
-
Columbia Journalism Review
Inner Circles
After a month
of Sundays with the news programs, a reporter finds
himself semi-informed and greatly in need of some fresh
political air. |
|
Columbia Journalism Review -
Sept/Oct, 2000
Looking In The Shadows
The media
hordes at the Democratic and Republican conventions
complained about a lack of substance while ignoring the
Shadow Conventions nearby, which had substance -- and edge
-- galore. |
|
Los Angeles Times
- June 25, 2000
Book Review: Breaking the news
Russ reviews five recent
books on media mergers, and considers their effect
on freedom and democracy. |
|
May/June, 1998 -
Columbia Journalism Review
Murdoch's Mean Machine
How Rupert
uses his vast media power to help himself and hammer his
foes. |
|
Sept/Oct, 1997 -
Columbia Journalism Review
The
Squeeze
Worried
about appearing inside the same covers as material that, in
one industrial giant's phrase, "encompasses sexual,
political, social issues," big advertisers are stepping up
pressure on magazines to alter their content.
|
|
Go Back Up |
|
IRAQ |
April 08,
2006 - TomPaine.com
The
Media's Chance at Redemption
When, oh when,
will the U.S. “mainstream media” finally stop
hemming and hawing, parsing and understating?
When will they simply go for the jugular to
confirm what any thoughtful American has already
learned from “less reputable” but increasingly
relevant alternative information sources: that
from the beginning of the Bush administration,
invading Iraq has always been as much an article
of faith for the president as, well, promoting
faith over reason?
|
October 27,
2004 - Guerrilla News Network
Bush
Wanted To Invade Iraq
George
Bush had a hankering for war with Iraq well before he
was elected. He fibbed about his military service.
And more revelations from
his former biographer.
|
|
July 09,
2003 -
TomPaine.com
All Spin, All The Time
In the White House
where nothing matters but politics, no unfounded claim requires
correction or apology. Russ examines all the Weapons of Mass
Destruction claims that vanished like hot air. |
June 05, 2003 - The Nation
(A
version of this article also appeared in the Sydney Morning
Herald.)
'Scoops'
and Truth at The Times
There’s turmoil at The New York Times, but Russ finds that
the problems go deeper than
Jayson Blair or Howell Raines. He focuses on the role
of the paper, and one star reporter in particular, in
promoting the now-discredited Bush Administration line that
Iraq possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, the key
justification for the invasion. |
|
May 05, 2003 - TomPaine.com
Passive And Mute?
Why are those who opposed the war in Iraq left feeling like
they opposed freedom? Russ explains the White House tricks
that turned the tables on the real humanitarians, and what
the humanitarians should have done about it. |
April 11, 2003 -
The Nation
The US vs the UK
A comparison of
media coverage of the Iraq war. |
March 20, 2003 -
The
Nation
The Big Lie
A look at how Newsweek buried a hugely important story
casting doubt on the reasons behind the invasion of Iraq.
|
March 12, 2003 - TomPaine.com
Dubya's
Profound Double Standard
Russ details the president’s resolute commitment to
hypocrisy. |
February 14, 2003 - In
These Times
(A version of this article also appeared in La Stampa
(Italy) )
The Proof Is In The Padding
So Colin Powell’s presentation of “evidence” of Iraqi
weapons violations is “persuasive” and “impressive” to many
politicians and pundits? Did anyone give it even a
five-minute taste test? Russ did.
|
November 14, 2002 -
TomPaine.com
Belgrade: Iraq Through A Balkan Lens
(A version of this article also appeared in La Stampa
(Italy)
and Information
(Denmark). )
Past U.S. Efforts Shed Doubt On Post-War Rebuilding Of
Iraq, writes Russ from former Yugoslavia. "If this place is
indicative of the U.S. commitment after the bombs stop falling,
the future Iraq won't be a pretty picture."
|
March/April,
1993 - Columbia Journalism Review
IRAQGATE
The big one that (almost) got away, who chased
it -- and who didn't.
|
|
Go Back Up |
|
Political &
Social Issues |
September 12, 2006 -
TomPaine.com
The PBS-FEMA Connection
President Bush brought Ken Tomlinson in as
his broadcasting czar with a mandate to rid
public airwaves of perceived liberal bias at
PBS, the home of Frontline, Sesame Street,
Nova, and (when Tomlinson came on board)
Bill Moyers. Now, having already been canned
for improprieties in that witch hunt, he is
under investigation for alleged misdoings
while holding a second administration post.
Among other things, he is being
investigated for using his office to oversee
a stable of racehorses named after Afghan
rebels, as well as more banal corruption and
self-dealing, including
improperly putting a friend on the payroll,
repeatedly tasking government employees to
run personal errands, and over-billing his
hours to the government. Due to a lack of
press coverage, few Americans know about any
of this – nor how it is part of a larger
pattern of cronyism, self-dealing and
flat-out madness in this administration.
|
June 29, 2006 -
TomPaine.com
Democrats' K Street Addiction
Though they publicly
bemoan the “culture of corruption,”
Democratic leaders and operatives privately
acknowledge that they see no means of
regaining power without cozying up to the
real “special interests.” And so, albeit to
a lesser extent than the republicans who now
control all branches of the federal
government, the would-be reformers find
themselves fighting the quicksand of
corporate entanglements.
Though they profess a need
for campaign finance reform and other
policies that prioritize the common good,
many key figures in the Democratic pantheon
personally earn a living helping corporate
interests advance the very causes that their
party publicly deplores.
A new study by the Real News Project,
a nonprofit noncommercial investigative
reporting entity I founded, shows the extent
of the problem. Examining 25 key Democratic
consultants, advertising and public
relations execs and lobbyists, we discovered
a veritable witches’ brew of odious
agendas…….
|
June
14, 2006 -
RealNews.org
25 Democratic Consultants
As the nation
gears up for a battle over control of
Congress this year and for the presidency in
two years, there will be much effort to
differentiate the two dominant parties. Less
likely to be discussed are the ways in which
the parties are alike. A new report
from the Real News Project (www.realnews.org)
examines the work performed by key
Democratic Party operatives who earn their
“real money” helping corporations exert
influence in Washington. The report raises
questions about conflicts of interest that
have so far escaped public attention.
|
May 08,
2006 - TomPaine.com
Crashing WatergateGate
Hookers, booze and poker make a good story. But
the real problem is how business is done every
day in Washington.
|
April 08,
2006 - TomPaine.com
The
Media's Chance at Redemption
When, oh when,
will the U.S. “mainstream media” finally stop
hemming and hawing, parsing and understating?
When will they simply go for the jugular to
confirm what any thoughtful American has already
learned from “less reputable” but increasingly
relevant alternative information sources: that
from the beginning of the Bush administration,
invading Iraq has always been as much an article
of faith for the president as, well, promoting
faith over reason?
|
March 24,
2006 - TomPaine.com
Ganging Up On Feingold
Republican shamelessness betrays their fear of
Sen. Russ Feingold and his resolution to censure
President Bush over illegal wiretapping -- while
Democratic silence betrays their fear of taking
a stand.
|
March 17,
2006 - TomPaine.com
Bush's Incompetent Criminals
This is no joke: The
president’s top domestic policy adviser, Claude
Allen, was arrested and charged with a scheme to
rip off retail stores by "returning" items for
refunds that he had not actually purchased.
Behind this sad incident lurk two interrelated
calamities of the Bush years: the continuing
placement of the dubiously-qualified in high
positions, and the use of people of color as
window dressing for policies that harm
communities of color.
|
February
26, 2006 - Sunday
Herald
All Sides Turn On Bush Over Ports Deal
The ports controversy is an especially difficult
one for the Bush Administration and the GOP. If
the details get scrutiny, the deal could have
ramifications all the way to the next
presidential election.
|
February
21, 2006 -
TomPaine.com
The Media's Next Quarry
Now that the press has come alive over the
hunting accident, will it investigate the bigger
scandals where Cheney plays a central role?
|
February
10, 2006 -
TomPaine.com
FEMA's Unholy Trinity
With all the
enduring
mysteries about the Bush Administration’s
doings, one looms as large any: Why was Michael
Brown in charge of protecting Americans when
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast? A new
investigation released earlier this week by Real
News reveals why Brown—a man
with virtually no experience in government or
management of any type, and no familiarity with
disaster response—secured the job of chief of
America’s disaster response.
|
February 06,
2006 -
The Real News Project
Unholy Trinity: Katrina, Allbaugh and Brown
Ever wonder
why Michael Brown, a failed lawyer with no
management or disaster experience, was put
in charge of defending Americans against
natural and man-made disasters? Here, for
the first time, the full, shocking story.
|
January
31, 2006 -
TomPaine.com
Money Motivations
To understand
the partisan nature of the Abramoff scandal,
look at who cared about tribal interests
before
they met Jack.
|
January
04, 2006 -
TomPaine.com
To Russia, Love Tom Delay
Jack Abramoff's plea is just the beginning.
DeLay's dealings with Russia should be one of
the biggest stories of the year.
|
December 22,
2005 -
Huffington Post
NSA Spooking
You? Facts First, Please
With the unfolding news about secret NSA
domestic surveillance outside of the law, the
talk is already about high crimes, about
impeachment. It is about a strong constitution
versus a strong president, safety versus civil
liberties. But the important thing here is not
to get caught up in tantalizing blue-sky
scenarios before we address some key issues that
we need to understand if we are ever to get our
democracy back on track.
|
November 01,
2005 -
TomPaine.com
The World Can't Wait
The narrowness of the Scooter Libby indictment shows
again the limitations of “the system” in confronting
the sheer magnitude of an entire government
subverted, and with it a proud people, from all that
we once revered. For those disturbed by the deceit
and the intrigues, the reckless warmongering, the
wholesale looting of the common trust to benefit the
privileged, the clampdown on rights and liberties,
the unconscionable enthusiasm for torture, the
embracing of a Know-Nothing attitude toward science,
the hastening of environmental collapse, the buying
of the legislative process and the neutering of the
judicial one, waiting for indictments is no longer
sufficient.
|
October 27,
2005 -
TomPaine.com
The Fitzgerald Spinmeisters
Everyone with a vested interest in minimizing the
significance of any
outcome of the Valerie Plame leak probe-i.e. anyone
who goes down with the good ship Bushypop, from hack
legislators to hack pundits to hack political
hacks-has spent the past week or so frantically
digging through their chest of hoary excuses.
Perhaps it is from a subconscious sense of guilt,
perhaps it is just good political sense. Whatever,
we're too far along in the public debate about
honesty and trust to let the spin go unchallenged.
So here are some examples of what we're already
seeing, some things we might expect to see, and some
reasonable quick-responses to them.
|
Oct 24,
2005 -
Huffington Post
Karl's New War
What will Karl Rove do to distract attention from
the growing mound of White House scandals? Wag the
dog, perhaps?
|
August 24,
2005 -
TomPaine.com
Homeland Security's Casualties
Why can't we find out who's being arrested and
locked up here in the United States in the name of
the "war on terror"? Growing signs that domestic
anti-terror efforts may miss their target, while
threatening the freedom of the innocent.
|
August 11,
2005 -
Huffington Post
Guns of August
Can you hear the footsteps growing louder? Mounting
anecdotal evidence suggests that civil libertarians
were not exaggerating when they began long ago to
worry about prospects for dangerous excess in the
‘response’ to 9/11. If it ever was just about the
government poking into our requests for library
books on the history of timing devices, those days
are long past. In the past week alone, the following
troubling developments and revelations were
reported, but not necessarily widely discussed or
appreciated for their collective import…
|
July 21,
2005 -
TomPaine.com
Why Was Miller Fit to Print
Appropriate
compassion for jailed New York Times reporter Judith
Miller notwithstanding, the editors of the Times
have failed to clarify the exact role of their
controversial colleague in the so-called Valerie
Plame Leak, aware as they are of Miller's checkered
professional record and her seeming disdain for
standards the rest of the profession strives to
uphold. While defending its own, the paper also has
a larger responsibility—both to its readers and to
journalism—not to serve as a propaganda organ,
obscuring key unresolved questions about Miller, her
work and this particular case.
|
June 29,
2005 -
Los Angeles Times
Harsh Insight Into How We Make War
A
review of Norman Solomon’s timely new book, “War
Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning
Us to Death”
|
June 20,
2005 - TomPaine.com
Why George Went To War
The
real reason Bush wanted war with Iraq – his own
explanation….
New, by Russ Baker, on TomPaine.com
|
May
5, 2005 - TomPaine.com
What Didn't Happen In Ohio
Two
new studies cast further doubt on the theories alleging
fraud in the exit poll results for the 2004 presidential
election
|
January 28,
2005 - TomPaine.com
Letters: Debating Exit Polls, Part 2
Wading
back into the debate over the alleged theft of the Ohio
election, Russ explains further why it was not likely.
In particular, some details on the imprecision inherent
in exit polls.
|
April
1, 2005 - TomPaine.com
Bold Prescriptions
Most of
us have an ethical and/or religious framework which
influences our beliefs about morally complex issues like
the right to die or abortion. For too long, the
religious right has dominated the discussion of these
issues. Now, besides the Schiavo
case, we have pharmacists getting in between doctors and
patients and refusing to honor prescriptions of which
they don’t approve. It’s time for the reasonable, the
balanced, and the fair to regain the upper hand. Here
are some ideas for achieving that.
|
March 28,
2005 - AlterNet
Fishing for New Environmentalists
With the Bush
administration’s promulgation of stunningly weak
standards on mercury pollution, and with growing
evidence of the mass poisoning of the American people,
there’s a prime opportunity. Environmentalists should do
more to reach out to the millions of Americans who hunt
and fish. Assuming that generally conservative
“outdoorsmen” and –women will vote only based on guns
and permits is very short-sighted, strategically.
|
March 7,
2005 - Guerrilla News Network
Controversial 'Secret' Tapes Reveal Shocker: Bush
Actually a Great Guy
When are "secret,
revelatory" conversations really just spin? Russ
explores two recent instances in which The New York
Times gave prominent play to supposedly secret tapes it
had obtained that, it said, presented new insights into
politicians’ thinking and strategy – in particular
concerning President Bush. But do these articles really
do that? In this time of White House information
management and maximum spin, it is more important than
ever that news organizations -- and the public --
exhibit skepticism about such stories.
|
January 14,
2005 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What’s wrong with the coverage of the CBS scandal?
Why are Dan Rather's
failings more important than George Bush's? Russ
questions the media's priorities in their eagerness to
criticize 60 Minutes' story on Bush's National Guard
service.
|
January 07,
2005 - TomPaine.com
Election 2004: Lost or Stolen?
E-mail boxes are bursting
with allegations that the 2004 Ohio election, and,
therefore, the presidency, was stolen. But was it
really? Russ went to Ohio to find out.
|
November 23,
2004 - The Nation
New Hampshire Recount, Act One
Russ reports in from
Concord, New Hampshire, where the first recount of the
presidential race is underway. It’s not clear yet
whether the controversial Diebold voting machines
function properly, but one thing is: There’s nothing
like a paper ballot for restoring public confidence in
the political process.
|
October 27,
2004 - Guerrilla News Network
Bush
Wanted To Invade Iraq
George
Bush had a hankering for war with Iraq well before he
was elected. He fibbed about his military service.
And more revelations from
his former biographer.
|
September 29,
2004 - The Nation
Fear
of Flying
Russ talks to a new source
who knows something about why George W. Bush left his
Texas Air National Guard Unit and stopped flying two
years before his military service obligation ended.
|
September 14,
2004 - The Nation
Why Bush Left
Texas
Russ provides new analysis
and revealing details on the reasons George W. Bush
abruptly left his Texas National Guard unit in 1972.
|
April 22,
2004 - TomPaine.com
Maturing
Media?
Has this immature president
spawned a sudden maturation of his inquisitors? Recent
evidence indicates just that. And we can only hope that
this growth spurt continues.
|
April 06,
2004 - Tompaine.com
Born-Again Hawks
It's one thing to intensely dislike
George W. Bush. It's another thing entirely to want to
defeat him so bad, you are willing to adopt his own
bring-'em-on worldview. But that is exactly the
position in which many progressives and the "liberal
media" find themselves.
|
March 22,
2004 - TomPaine.com
The Pain In Spain
Russ suggests we stop blaming
the Spaniards. They’re just quicker at figuring out
something even Americans will, eventually: We have all
been had.
|
March 17,
2004 - Newsday
Bush's War Exercise: The Backpedal
Anniversaries are a time of
remembrance. We look back at an event and recall what
was. Or, in the case of the invasion of Iraq, which
began one year ago, we look back at what wasn't.
|
February 20,
2004 - TomPaine.com
Bush's Backpedaling
The Bush administration,
faced with a stinker of an economic situation, plans to
run for re-election on a national defense-foreign policy
plank. But how's it going to do that? Can anyone
seriously trust any significant claim from this gang
that definitely can't shoot straight—then insists that
the goal was always to hit the wall not the target? Russ
looks at all the foreign policy goals that had to be
altered.
|
February 13,
2004 - TomPaine.com
Strangling Public Debate
Why those controversial
issue ads must be allowed to run.
|
February 02,
2004 - TomPaine.com
Primary Colors
Forget what the pundits tell you
about “red” and “blue” states—black and brown voters
could be the ones to turn the election. |
|
January
22, 2004 - TomPaine.com
The Phony Dean 'Meltdown'
The so-called Dean "meltdown,"
the claims that his campaign is finished, and his forced
contrition are all symptoms of how debased the political
dialogue has become. |
January
20, 2004 - TomPaine.com
Broader, Not Broder
Voters deserve better from today’s columnists. Read about
the limitations of the nation’s premier campaign
chronicler. |
January
09, 2004 - TomPaine.com
How 'Bout Dem Bushes?
Bush has the perfect solution for winning in November:
He’s becoming a Democrat! (Or at least he appears to be
trying, based on an important recent message to the
American public.) |
|
November 26, 2003 -
TomPaine.com
Traditional Values, My Wallet!
Heard of the Traditional
Values Coalition, the group trying to ban federal funding of
human sexuality studies, along with legalized abortion and
just about everything else? Russ did a little digging into
the organization’s cash flow – and found one traditional
value: nepotism. |
|
October 15, 2003 -
TomPaine.com
Marshall
Plan for Revitalizing American Democracy
When will we say ‘enough is
enough’ to mediocre presidential candidates and issue-lite
campaigns? Here’s a proposal for improving the quality of
the presidential field and raising the level of discourse. |
|
September 04, 2003 -
TomPaine.com
Bush
Moves On
Thanks to President Bush,
we no longer have to wait for others to let us off the hook.
Now we can simply move ourselves on. |
|
July 09, 2003 -
TomPaine.com
All Spin, All The Time
In the White House where nothing matters but politics, no
unfounded claim requires correction or apology. Russ
examines all the Weapons of Mass Destruction claims that
vanished like hot air. |
|
July 11, 2003 -
Slate
Bush’s Big Data Dump
The
administration is hiding bad economic news. Russ explains
how. |
|
February 11, 2003 -
TomPaine.com
QUESTIONS OF FAITH
For
Reporters Covering Bush's Faith-Based Initiative
(A version of this article also appeared in Der Standard
(Austria) )
A long-time reporter
has some questions for Mr. Bush, including, "Can you
explain, in your own words, the concept of separation of
church and state?" |
|
October 14, 2002 -
The Nation
Chill on the Hill
(A version of this article also appeared in NRC
Handelsblad (Netherlands) and Der Standard (Austria) )
One year after the
September 11 attacks and the attendant colossal intelligence
failures, Russ finds that Congress’s spy watchdogs still
often lack the knowledge or the will to be effective. |
|
May 07, 2002 -
Newsday
Judgment Day for Senator Pothole
When Russ first heard about plans to
name a federal courthouse after former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato,
he thought it was a joke. And a pretty good one, at that. |
|
Feb 25, 2002 -
The Nation
What Are They Hiding?
(A
version of this article also appeared in El
Pais (Spain) )
No one ever accused conservative House Republican Dan Burton
of mincing his words. This is, after all, the man who once
famously called President Clinton a "scumbag." But it's one
thing to throw rhetorical bombs at a President from the
opposition party, and quite another to denounce your own
party's man as "dictatorial," as Burton did to President
Bush in December. Dictatorial or not, long before Sept. 11,
the Bush administration displayed a hearty appetite for
secrecy and a strong aversion to sharing information with
Congress and the public. Now, it’s becoming clear why. |
|
Mar/April, 2001 -
Columbia Journalism Review
Hanging Chads
Our man at the
great Florida presidential recount. |
|
Mar/April, 2001 -
Regent Digital News
School Shootings in Perspective
Our study
finds that in nearly every place where a school shooting
took place, the local representative in Congress is a
staunch opponent of gun restrictions. |
Mar/April, 2001 -
Regent Digital News
How The Bush Tax Cut Plan Cuts Out Ordinary Americans
Basic
claims about tax relief come under scrutiny. |
|
Jan 19, 2001 -
The American Prospect Review
Trial Heat
Observers
name their picks for the next race for the White House. |
|
Feb 12, 2001 -
American Prospect
Stealth TV
Channel
One--the dubious news program for teens (with lots of
advertising) seeps into America's schools.
|
|
January, 2001 -
Columbia Journalism Review
The Script
The 2000
presidential campaign was remarkably scripted, and the
debate severely constricted. Does that mean the media can't
broaden the discussion, can't compel candidates to talk
about what really matters most? Russ says we can -- and
must. |
|
Aug 21, 2000 -
Globe & Mail
The never-ending legal pursuit of Bill Clinton
In the
post-impeachment era, prosecutors launch yet another Clinton
probe. Canada's top paper asked Russ to explain it all
to our northern neighbors. |
|
July 20, 2000 -
The New York Times
Honing the Politics of Surprise
Russ profiles
controversial political columnist and socialite Arianna
Huffington and looks at her latest brain-storm; The Shadow
Conventions. |
|
March 13, 2000 -
American Prospect
Rudy vs. Hillary: the Slugfest
An early
look at what was shaping up as a titanic political battle
between Rudy Gulianni and Hillary Rotham Clinton. |
|
October 25, 1999 -
The New Republic
Changing the Channel
Should
schoolchildren be forced to watch advertising-laden broadcasts
in their classrooms? Conservatives choose sides in a
rough-and-tumble debate. |
|
May 3, 1999 -
The Nation
The Education of Mike Milken
Russ assesses
former Junk Bond King Michael Milken's foray into the world of
for-profit education. |
|
September 20, 1999 -
The Nation
George Soros's Long Strange Trip
A Philanthropist
defies drug war orthodoxy.
|
|
July 20, 1998 -
The Nation
Jesse Helms's Honeypot
Russ Baker
visits the Jesse Helms Museum, which seems less about
culture than politics as usual. |
|
October 10, 1999 -
Los Angeles Times
Op-Ed: Media Titans Sell Out Journalism for a Buck
Media
conglomerate heads cozy up with dictators -- and to heck with
principle. |
|
December 1998
-
Salon.com
Portrait of a Political Pit Bull
Rep. Dan Burton
(R-Ind), the powerful chairman of the House Government
Reform Committee, made a name for himself by investigating
alleged improprieties in the Clinton White House. He famously
called Clinton a "scumbag" for his personal behavior and has
relentlessly pursued White House campaign finance
irregularities, but as this in-depth investigation shows, Burton
has his own complicated history.
|
|
March 30, 1997 -
Los Angeles Times
Newt Can't Help Himself
Russ finds that
House Speaker Newt Gingrich is blithely ignoring official
ethics warnings that he stop harboring a double-dipping
political Svengali. |
|
December 12, 1994 -
New York Magazine
The Cop Out
When
New York Police Department undercover detective Anthony Venditti
was shot down on a Queens street, solving his murder looked
relatively simple. But... |
|
Go Back Up |
|
Features & Profiles |
April 25,
2004 - Washington Post
Olympian
Athens, Stuck Between Alpha and Omega
Russ, puttering around Athens, finds
the city contending with some unusual challenges as it prepares
to host the Olympic Games.
|
February 08,
2004 - The Sunday Times Magazine
Malice At The Palace
Prince Alexander and
Princess Elizabeth welcome you to their royal family feud. He
lives in a palace and wants to be king of Serbia -- but she's
kicking up a Balkan stink to stop him.
|
|
November 2003 -
Conde Nast
Traveler
High-Tech Oasis
Russ
finds the world’s highest-tech hotel in a most unlikely
place. |
|
November, 2002
-
Razor Magazine
A Slapp In The Golden State: Penance (And Salvation)
For Speaking Out
The Rev. Steve Anderson thought he was just doing what
any crusading small-town minister might when he uncovered
apparent municipal corruption and sleaze. But he had no idea
what he was getting into. Russ looks at one example of the
tactics large corporations use to silence citizen-activists.
|
|
October , 2002 -
Razor Magazine
The Land Mine Guy
"If anyone ever finds a way to detect
and dig up the 100 million land mines that litter the earth,
it’s likely to be Richard Walden. Russ profiles the
irreverent humanitarian relief maestro, founder of the
unconventional relief organization Operation USA, who has
devoted his life to bringing attention and resources to
appalling scenarios of human misery."
|
|
May, 2000 -
Gotham Magazine
Marriage,
Money and Murder: Death In The Hamptons
On the morning of October 22, 2001, the lifeless body of
Manhattan financier Ted Ammon was found in the bedroom of
his East Hampton home, felled by a savage beating. The Ammon
case, as yet unresolved, has an operatic story line and cast
of characters – from a control-obsessed, anger-driven wife
to her volatile, building
contractor-turned-boyfriend-turned-new-husband—and an
astonishing amount of high stakes money, power, exotic real
estate, and world-class connections. So who killed Ted
Ammon? Russ Baker goes behind the hedgerows and brings us up
to speed.
|
|
March 31, 2002 -
Philadelphia Inquirer
Magazine
Richard Walden, the Iconoclast of Disaster Relief
If anyone ever
finds a way to detect and dig up the 100 million land mines
that litter the earth, it’s likely to be Richard Walden. The
irreverent humanitarian relief maestro, founder of the
unconventional relief organization Operation USA, has
devoted his life to bringing attention and resources to
appalling scenarios of human misery. His specialty is
creating unlikely partnerships for good, whether that means
cajoling corporations to donate medical supplies or planes
for disaster relief, nagging government scientists to create
innovative land-mine-removal technology, or charming
mega-celebrities from Barbra Streisand to Muhammad Ali into
using their cachet to persuade fans to do something
profound. |
|
October 14, 2001 -
Philadelphia Inquirer
Magazine
Big Fish
The Iron Chef,
Masaharu Morimoto, doesn't mince words. Or anything else,
for that matter. His whole persona constitutes a sort of
genteel assault on anything remotely conventional about
food. Russ hangs out with the outrageous chef. |
|
August 19, 2001 -
Philadelphia Inquirer
Magazine
Ira's Tour de France
Just before the
notorious convicted murderer Ira Einhorn was extradited to
the United States, Russ went to see why the French seemingly
had been so reluctant to send him back. Here's his story on
how Ira hijacked the French conscience. |
|
May 2001 -
Arena
The Man In The Know
Russ goes out
on the town with the tart-tongued Richard Johnson of the
gossip column Page Six as he unmasks the foibles and
excesses of a rich human comedy. |
|
July 20, 2000 -
The New York Times
Honing the Politics of Surprise
Russ Baker profiles
controversial columnist socialite Arianna Huffington and looks
at her latest brain-storm the shadow conventions. |
|
August 26, 1996 -
The Nation
Molinari Family Values
Remember
Susan Molinari? The darling of the Republican party and GOP
family values keynote speaker in 1996? Turns out she was an odd
choice to wave the flag. |
|
March 19, 2000
-
New York Daily News
The Rise and Rise of Rudy's Rudy
A first-ever detailed look at Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's chief
aide and key 'enforcer', Bruce Teitelbaum, explores hardball and
patronage in the administration credited with turning New York
City around. |
|
January 17, 2000 -
The American Prospect
The Ecumenist
Is the growing
alliance between inner-city preachers and right-wing local
politicians a bargain with the devil? The Reverend Floyd
Flake thinks not. |
|
December 1, 1999 -
Esquire
A Touch of Eden
Russ tracks
down expatriate murder suspect Ira Einhorn, the former
celebrated hippie guru of Philadelphia, now living in
luxurious exile in the South of France while he
awaits extradition. World exclusive interview that led
to the French prime minister's decision to sign an order for
Einhorn's extradition.
|
|
May 17, 1999 -
The New York Observer
The Commish Bites Back
New York's Police
Commissioner is wackier than you knew - and inventive with the
old resumé. |
|
December 1998
-
Salon.com
Portrait of a Political Pit Bull
Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind), the powerful chairman of the House
Government Reform Committee, made a name for himself by
investigating alleged improprieties in the Clinton White House.
He famously called Clinton a "scumbag" for his personal behavior
and has relentlessly pursued White House campaign finance
irregularities, but as this in-depth investigation shows, Burton
has his own complicated history.
|
|
January 12, 1998 -
The New Yorker
Nerd
File
A computer pioneer
comes out of the past to fix the year 2000 glitch. |
|
September 8, 1996 -
The Toronto Sun
The Real
Mexico
Fed up with
Cancun? Russ escapes the Planet Hollywood throngs and thongs
for the colonial elegance of the old Yucatan city of Merida. |
|
May 25, 1993 -
The Village Voice
The Man Who Sold Out School District 12
Kenneth Drummond
redefined “chutzpah.” How many school board officials and
health center presidents freely raid the till and put their
crack-addicted girlfriend on the payroll? Read Russ’ tale of
a man who couldn’t say no – and, for years, didn’t have to.
|
|
Go Back Up |
|
Sept. 11 and
Aftermath |
|
Nov/Dec, 2001 -
Columbia Journalism
Review
The Journal
On The Run
Shortly before
8 A.M. on September 11, Jim Pensiero, an assistant managing
editor for The Wall Street Journal, was crossing a
pedestrian bridge to the Journal's offices in the World
Financial Center, across the street from the World Trade
Center... |
|
October 29, 2001 -
Salon.com
The Past As Prologue
Ramzi Yousef is in prison for plotting the 1993 World
Trade Center bombing -- but we still don't know who he
really is, who he might have been working with and what he
could tell us about Sept. 11.
-
NOTE: Versions of this
article also appeared in the Telegraph Magazine (UK),
Frankfurter Allgemeine (Germany), NRC Handelsblad
(Netherlands), De Standaard (Belgium), Svenska Dagbladet
(Sweden), and Weekend Australian.
|
|
September 23, 2001 -
Frankfurter Allgemeine & The
Ottawa Citizen
Guilt By Association
Arab-Americans face
suspicion and
fear following the devastation of the World Trade Center. |
|
September 15, 2001 -
The Independent (UK)
An
Angel Was Lost
The story of
one marriage shattered by the Sept. 11 attack. |
|
September 13, 2001 -
The Los Angeles Times
America Attacked: New York
Agonizing Search for Survivors; New York: Rescue efforts
continue on thin hopes. Residents offer aid, look for loved
ones. |
|
September 12, 2001 -
The Los Angeles Times
America Attacked
Thousands Dead, Injured as Hijacked U.S. Airliners Ram
Targets; World Trade Towers Brought Down;
Tragedy: Assault leaves Manhattan in chaos. Three of the
flights were en route to L.A., one to San Francisco.
President Bush puts military on highest alert, closes
borders and vows to 'find those responsible.' |
|
Go Back Up |
|
